Darkstorm

Darkstorm is the working title for a high fantasy worldbuilding project currently being crafted by author Tom Brown. Work on the setting, and story, first began in 2009, and has proceeded gradually ever since. The entire project is dedicated to the memory of Tom's mother, Phyllis Brown, who passed away on 9 October 2020.

Overview
The most easterly of the Five Realms, and the one most distant from any other in comparison to the other four. In this regard, the realm is considered somewhat isolated. It is also the only realm of the world to be unified under a single government.

Geography and climate
Terrain and weather.

Flora and fauna
Animals, plants.

Central
At its pinnacle, the kingdom is led by its monarch, the king or queen regnant. While their rule is absolute, they are advised by a privy council, which handles routine administration and is involved in matters of diplomacy, defense, economics, law and justice, royal security, and public welfare. It deals with national and individual interest matters, issues proclamations in the monarch's name, and supervises the courts and law enforcement. The council can make decisions, but the monarch can veto them without question. The principal officer of the council is the secretary royal, who serves as the monarch's chief advisor and de facto head of government. The daily business of the government is divided between six departments - state, war, finance, justice, agriculture, and works.

Regional
TBD

Municipal
TBD

Military
Ground, sea and elite forces.

Economics and trade
Currency, commodities, imports and exports.

Guilds and other organizations
Commerce and craft guilds, learned societies, etc.

Knights of the Scarlet Banner
An elite chivalric order established by the first King of Ilunar, Tarkol the Great, over 1,000 years ago. Only the monarch can appoint a person to its ranks, and membership within the order is considered one of the highest honors any Ilunari can achieve. Several of the kingdom's top military officers are members of the order, as are some of its most legendary historical war heroes. The monarch is official head of the order, but its day to day business is overseen by a knight known as the Prior General.

The Knights have only one rank - Knight Companion.

Conjura
The magical order of the continent. It has four primary responsibilities - to identify and train young arcanists, to seek and acquire magical items and texts for study and preservation, to identify and prosecute rogue arcanists and those who violate the arcane laws, and to offer a wide range of arcane services to the kingdom and its people. It is led by a senior arcanist known as the High Magister (or High Magistra, if female). Its headquarters is Capvering Hold, located in the Military District of Leesoft, the capital city of the kingdom. The current leader of the Order is the High Magistra Violette Humilio, who has served in this capacity for the last 24 years. She is widely regarded as the single most powerful arcanist on the continent.

The order has four ranks (from lowest to highest) - Apprentice, Journeyman, Adept, and Master. Arcanists of the ranks of adept and master can be addressed by the honorific of "Magister". The leader of the Order is known as the High Magister, or High Magistra if female.

Order of the Temple
The formal name for the priesthood of the Temple of Eilios. It is responsible for preserving and sharing the teachings of the faith, maintaining the sanctums throughout the land, and providing for the spiritual needs of the citizenry of the kingdom. Clergy are known as prelates. It is led by a senior priest known as the Curate.

Culture
Social hierarchy, cuisine, clothing, architecture.

Religion
Monotheistic or polytheistic, beliefs, traditions and rituals.

God(s)
The Temple is a monotheistic faith over four thousand years old. It centers around the worship of Eilios, also known as the Light-Weaver, the Radiant Father, or simply the Divine Brilliance. This omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent deity is the source of all life and represents law, order, justice and righteous rule. The Ilunari venerate Eilios as the guardian and benefactor of humankind, and the source of all that is good and just.

Teachings
The faith teaches people to live a just and honourable life, demonstrate kindness to the less fortunate, respect the land and creatures in it, and avoid vice and wickedness. Those who do so are granted eternal rest after death, and taken into the paradise of the Luminous Gardens, where the Radiant Father dwells. Those whose lives have been filled with cruelty, corruption, falsehood or malice, those who have abused the less fortunate, and those who have given their lives over to depravity are condemned to eternal misery in the Dread Plain. This cold, grim place exists distant from the Light-Weaver, who no longer acknowledges those who dwell there, and where eternal punishment befits the deeds of each mortal's life. The faith reminds its adherents that all living things eventually die, and that ultimately every mortal soul will face divine judgment.

Clergy
The clergy of Ilunar are known as prelates, men and women who have undergone a rigorous five-year path of intensive study and meditation to achieve ordination. The priesthood is known as the Order of the Temple. These priests live to represent and spread the message of peace and enlightenment that the Light-Weaver offers to all, and provide spiritual counsel to the citizens of the kingdom. Prelates are identifiable by their brown robes. Every town and village in the land has a sanctum in it, where the local prelate leads daily prayers each morning, and a weekly worship service for all in the village. They live in a set of modest rooms at the back of the sanctum. In the cities, these worship sites are known as great sanctums, and are larger and more spacious. The leader of the Temple and the Holy Order is a senior member of the clergy known as the Curate, who serves for life. They are the foremost representative and voice of the faith, and they are responsible for ensuring the mission of the Temple is fulfilled in a disciplined and upright manner. Supporting them is a small council of the most senior clergy known as the Synod. At the passing of each Curate, the Synod gathers to meditate and seek the guidance of the Radiant Father in identifying the successor to that high office. The process by which this is achieved is not publicly known. The current Curate is Beldim Irvarmo, who has served in his post for seventeen years.

Ritual(s)
A common prayer of the faithful is known as the Sacred Affirmation. It reads, “You are the light of this world, the beacon which guides us. May your holy name be upon our hearts, and your words always in our thoughts. As I praise you in life, so one day may I praise you eternally in the hereafter, and bask always in the glory of your presence.”

Source
In each of the Five Realms, magic comes from a distinctive source. The wellspring of arcane energies in Ilunar is known as the Font of Conjunction. From it, magical energy suffuses the land and enriches it with power, creating a pervasive, interconnected web of arcane energy known as the Ambience. Unfortunately for most, only a select few have the ability to harness and utilize this energy. Arcanists are born; they cannot be made, and it is estimated that only one in every 1,000 people is born with “the Gift” as this ability is known. There is no definitive formulae to explain how a Gifted child is chosen. Two mundane parents can have a Gifted child, or two Gifted parents can have a dozen mundane children. It is commonly believed that the decision of who is Gifted and who is not is made by Eilios himself, according to his own will.

Unbinding
For those born with the Gift, in their fourth or fifth year they experience an event known as the Unbinding. This event refers to the point at which the youth’s own arcane resonance becomes fully connected to the Ambience itself, resulting in a burst of considerable magical power. It is typically triggered when the youth encounters to a potent arcane energy source, but can also result from exposure to an event inducing great stress or trauma. The event manifests itself in many different ways, such objects around the person may suddenly begin to float, or the item they’re holding will inexplicably burst into flames. This event gives off a significant amount of energy, which will be detected by other arcanists. At this point, two representatives of the Order of Incantors will be dispatched to find and meet this child and their parents. They will explain what has happened, provide any necessary assistance with correcting any damage that has occurred as a result of the Unbinding, and will then make arrangements to take the child for training.

Training
It is required by law that all Gifted children be taught how to properly use their magical powers, both for their own protection as well as that of the civilian populace. The child will be brought to the Order’s nearest chapter house, where they will “take the novitiate”, as the ten-year regime of arcane education is known. During this time, a magister will be assigned as the apprentice's instructor, responsible for ensuring they receive all the training they will need. They will then enter a small group of anywhere from three to ten other apprentices. The education the Order provides is rigorous and demanding, but it ensures each apprentice is prepared to address concerns both magical and mundane. Aside from their training with magic, they are also taught writing, reading, arithmetic, botany, geology, and several other subjects. Once the ten-year period is complete, every apprentice arcanist undergoes what is known as the Trial of the First Seal. In this, they drink a special chymical mixture that induces a realistic hallucination unique to the individual. In this experience, the novice must face their innermost fears and overcome them, as “an arcanist who cannot defeat self-doubt and rise to the moment can never truly accomplish all they are meant to.” While in this hallucinatory state, apprentices are supervised by a magister and a healer. The trial has three possible outcomes. The first, and most common, is that the apprentice successfully completes the trial and is welcomed into the Order as a journeyman arcanist in a celebratory ceremony. The second outcome, which is very rare, is that an apprentice fails their trial and suffers a mental break, which causes their connection to the Ambience being severed, which results in them losing the capacity to wield magic and becoming what is known as "Null". Those who experience this outcome will spend a mandatory period of time under the supervisor of healers before being returned home to their families. The third, and rarest outcome, is that an apprentice falls victim to the hallucination’s seeming reality and is driven incurably insane. The unfortunate few who fall victim to this outcome, known as "suffering the Delirium", are put away where they cannot harm themselves or others.

Anti-Magic Sentiments
There are some who fear magic and those who wield it. Wild claims of unchecked natural disasters, crazed fanatics driven mad by careless research, and even invasions of otherworldly beings from a different plane are among the various dangers those fearful insist arcanists will one day call down on the magically talented and the mundane alike. None of these claims have yet come true, however, but that does not stop the accusations.

Myths, legends and folklore
Things like the Black Fleet, Howling Well, etc.

Names
Ustrad - Swaisia - Uplon - Hoplia - Aprijan - Prei Ston - Bliol Sna - Smeo Dreit - Chuf Blary - Smod Flein - Swai Prington - Claom Plana - Shub Glary - Shoac Whon - Grae Spana - Pla Smil - Sper Grax - Tro Swurg - Flo Tyre - Cleo Chax - Plop Shar - Spa Grium - Splor Blea - Gler Shye - Whu Plaria - Droq Whela - Frao Brium - Smef Strua - Snoa Pral